How is the new baby gorilla doing at the zoo? Columbus Zoo curator talks about baby, mom and more
Sully the gorilla is doing an amazing job for a first-time mom.
That’s according to Shawn Bell, assistant curator for Congo Expedition, the section of the Columbus Zoo where Sully gave birth last Thursday.
“She's holding the baby high up on her chest, keeping the baby warm, keeping her safe, making sure she nurses,” Bell told the Dispatch. “You can hear her have a content grumble. It’s just kind of a low rumble that they do when they're really happy.”
When Sully’s baby appeared last week, it was a surprise to zookeepers, who had previously mistaken the mother for a male. (It’s difficult to tell the sex of younger gorillas because males and females are about the same size, and they don’t have prominent sex organs, according to the zoo’s blog. Female gorillas also show few outward signs of pregnancy.)
The zoo section where Sully lives was closed for a week after the birth, but now it’s reopened to the public.
In the following Q & A, Bell discussed what it’s like when a gorilla gives birth. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did your team discover Sully had given birth?
We had just gotten to work. One of our gorilla keepers for the day called me on the radio and said that Sully was holding their arm up and wanted me to come take a look at it. So I headed over there — it took me about three minutes. And when I came into the building, that keeper came out and said, “It looks like Sully’s holding a baby.”
We were not planning on a gorilla pregnancy. We were managing Sully as a male gorilla, and so we definitely didn't expect Sully to have a baby gorilla.
What's labor like for a gorilla?
First, you’ll see a little bit of restless behavior. They build beds, or nests, every night. Usually, when they're just behaving normally, they make their bed and they go to sleep, but when they start having contractions and going into labor, they act a little fidgety. They'll make their bed, lay down, then make it up again like it wasn't done just right, then lay back down again.
Their water breaks, similar to people. And sometimes you can see contractions.
Sometimes they’ll get in positions where you can tell they're having a contraction and lean over. It's pretty surreal to watch. It's an intense experience.
Is it painful for the mother?
It's hard to tell. It definitely looks natural to them.
Usually you can tell what's going on with one gorilla just by looking at the other gorillas. A lot of times, if a gorilla is in distress, the other gorillas are coming over there checking it out. I don't think (labor) is so painful because the other troop members are not coming over and checking on (the birthing mother). They seem to know that something's going on, but they're very respectful, and they keep their distance. They don't go over and bother them.
How has Sully been interacting with her baby over the past week?
Sully is doing an amazing, amazing job for a first-time mom. She's holding the baby high up on her chest, keeping the baby warm, keeping her safe, making sure she nurses.
Gorillas have really great vocalizations, which all mean different things. When Sully's nursing the baby and sitting there, you can hear her have a content grumble. It’s just kind of a low rumble that they do when they're really happy.
When her baby's sleeping, Sully’s grooming the top of her head, she's inspecting her hands and her feet.
How have the other gorillas reacted to the baby in their midst?
In Sully’s troop, we have some young gorillas and this is the first baby they've been exposed to. And so they're very curious, they're coming up, they're smelling the baby and Sully’s letting them come up and touch the baby. But when they start to get a little too close, Sully gently touches them and has them move away.
Any advice to visitors who come to see Sully?
Be patient. She tends to move around positions every so often, so if you don't see her right away, just hang out for a little bit. She's also very tired, dealing with a new baby right now, so she takes some pretty substantial naps.
Also, it’s a great opportunity to see how our other gorillas are behaving around their first infant experience. They’re going up and they're inspecting her.
We're excited to start sharing the baby and Sully with Columbus.
More: Columbus Zoo got two surprises with new baby gorilla
Peter Gill covers immigration, new American communities and religion for The Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How is the new baby gorilla doing? Columbus zoo curator tells us
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